River Tigris and Euphrates water conflict Flashcards
Players:
These two rivers supply Syria and Iraq, however, the source is in Turkey.
Turkey has been building hydroelectric dams.
Reduced water flows into Iraq and Syria by
approximately 80% and 40% respectively.
Syria built dams in response, which led to even less water reaching Iraq. This almost led to a war in 1975.
Low flow rates in Iraq have allowed salt water to infiltrate nearly 150km inland from the Persian Gulf.
The decline in water flows has also led to
decreased agricultural yields. Iraq reported
its worst cereal harvest in a decade in 2009,
indicating a potential food security problem.
Early in 2018, Iraq threatened to take its case for an increase in water flows from Turkey and Syria to the UN.
Political Leverage:
In 1987, Turkey and Sria came to an agreement over water sharing.
Turkey would maintain a flow rate of 500 cubic meters a second where the Euphrates River passes into Syria.
Turkey asked for Syria’s cooperation on the issue of Kurdish rebels residing in Syrian territory.
This has created a dangerous precedent, as water scarcity is set to increase, and the political leverage wielded by Turkey will consequently increase in turn.
The future:
Several droughts in Iraq in recent years have increased the likelihood of conflict in the future. The risk of regular future water shortages could make the Iraqi people increasingly desperate.
Projections by the intergovernmental pane on Climate Change (IPCC) indicate a changing climate and the potential for a permanent decrease in rainfall. In addition, rapidly increasing populations within the region could escalate tensions into a major conflict in the future.
